Wash Your Face With What???

13 March 2009


Honey. Yup, the same stuff you drizzle over biscuits and mix into tea makes the best face wash! Mix a little baking soda into the honey, and you have an incredible exfoliant. Let the honey sit on your face and you have a detoxifying mask. Thinking I'm crazy yet?

I started to wash my face with honey after the birth of my second son. My hormones sent my face into a tailspin, and I started to search around my favorite crunchy site Mothering. I read pages and pages about people washing their face with honey and thought it couldn't hurt. After the first wash I noticed how soft my face was, and within a week my skin was radiant and clearer. Since that week nearly 3-years-ago I have had one pimple at most, and no monthly breakouts around my period or postpartum. The scarring from past breakout is also gone - I'm foundation free for the first time since 16!

Honey has antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties that help to gently clean the skin, and reduce the swelling from breakouts. Honey's pH level (somewhat acidic) helps to not only cleanse the skin, but also greatly reduces scarring.

Once a week I also add either brown sugar or baking soda to a dab of honey on my hand for a great exfoliater. Don't stop with your face though! Mix honey and brown sugar in a bowl, get in the shower, and massage your skin with this concoction. You'll have the smoothest skin for pennies!

Okay, I realize this sounds like a huge sticky mess. Apart from the full body rub down it really isn't. Here are the steps to washing your face:

1. Wet hands (not face)
2. Put a quarter size dab of honey on finger tips and massage into skin
3. Rinse face. This take a few seconds, and once honey is wet with warm water it dissolves very quickly. That's all there is to it!

*If you wear a lot of make-up you may have to do this twice.

This is my one disclaimer - PLEASE be careful when choosing what kind of honey you use. Many companies are now "stretching" their honey with high fructose corn syrup, or inverted sugar syrup and labeling it honey. This may cause you to break out. Watch for raw or unfiltered honey. If you're in the Dallas area Kroger, Sprouts, and Tom Thumb all sell North Dallas Honey. I really like North Dallas Honey, but I often use what raw or unfiltered honey is on sale. You will pay a little more for high quality honey, but you're paying for the benefits of something truly natural versus sugar syrup in a bear.

Note:

If you read the comment section you will see "old beekeeper" commented about honey crystallizing and other ways honey benefits the skin. Crystallized honey is still good and tastes delicious, but can be hard to squeeze out of a bottle to wash your face with. I suggest keeping the lid on to keep dust, particles, and children out of your face wash. Here is a link explaining the crystallization of honey if you are interested.



Cost:

16 oz Honey to wash face lasts 2 months (may go bad before you use it all): $5

Total Cost/Month: $2.50

4 comments:

Laura said...

After receiving a sample from a company that makes an olive oil makeup remover and reading that the only ingredient was olive oil, I bought a small bottle of inexpensive supermarket brand EVOO and use that to remove makeup, followed by pure witch hazel for toner. I'm not sure of the antibacterial qualities in that combination and cannot wait to see if the honey and jojoba combination helps my monthly acne! - pitakelly

Frugal Wellness said...

Hi Laura - thanks for reading!!! EVOO is THE best eye make-up remover! Please let us know how you like the honey/jojoba combo. :)

old beekeeper said...

Belive that you have some of your facts mixed up. Honey does not lose moisture. It is hydroscopic and absorbs moisture from the air. The hydroscopic characteristic is why it works so well on facial skin as it pulls the moisture up to the surface of the skin and the natural enzymes react to heal minor irritations and moisturize the skin. Honey does not spoil. It has natural preservatives and only crystalizes due to temperature and its glucose /fructose ratio.

Frugal Wellness said...

Thank you for commenting, old beekeeper. I will definitely edit the post to include the wisdom you shared. :)

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